


The Space Between Lies

by Lockea



Series: Inbox Requests (FFVII Edition) [3]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Angst, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Dom!Cloud, Dom/sub, Dubious Consent, Humiliation, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, M/M, Punishment, Sephiroth's Poor Self Esteem, Sub!Sephiroth, Unhealthy Relationships, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-27
Updated: 2017-11-27
Packaged: 2019-02-07 18:12:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12846729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lockea/pseuds/Lockea
Summary: Sephiroth may be ShinRa's strongest weapon, but his handlers are his weakness. Unable to disobey them, Sephiroth's handlers keep him under ShinRa's control. Cloud is Sephiroth's newest handler, a SOLDIER Third who needs experience hunting monsters and working by Sephiroth's side.On a routine monster hunting mission to allow Cloud more chances to train, Sephiroth interferes, leading Cloud to become frustrated and angry with the man he's been charged to control. It... doesn't go well for Sephiroth.(Takes place in the same universe as "No One Owns the Rain")





	The Space Between Lies

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fireyangel020](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fireyangel020/gifts).



> More Inbox fics! Last one I'm doing is Zangeal, though, so everyone who's getting tired of my Sefikura fics fear not. 
> 
> I should be clear that I would be the first person on the list of people to kidnap Sephiroth and take him away from Cloud. Cloud's kind of a douchebag in this fic; taking advantage of someone he knows is vulnerable is kind of a dick move, even if Cloud did make a genuine mistake.
> 
> Also, please for the love of all things holy, read the tags!!! Any concerns, inbox me. Usual trigger warning note applies.

“Cloud! Watch out!” Sephiroth shouted moments before the malboro hissed out it’s poisonous gas. Cloud glanced up just a second too late and Sephiroth was already there, grabbing the younger man and darting out of harm’s way before the poison could hit him. Sephiroth dropped Cloud, who rolled back to his feet. 

“I had it!” Cloud shouted back at the man. “I almost had the monster retreating back to whatever hole it crawled out of.”

“No you didn’t!” Sephiroth replied, the words coming automatically. “Pay attention! It’s about to attack again.”

Whatever sharp reply Cloud was about to retort with was lost as the malboro roared and Cloud turned to face it, sword up just in time for one writhing tentacle to lash out at him. He chopped it off easily, using the momentary opening to lunge towards that gaping mouth, but not fast enough. Sephiroth was there a heartbeat sooner, masamune buried in the monster’s gut. This far north, this close to the heart of the mako, the monster dissolved near instantaneously and Sephiroth plucked up his sword from the ground. When he turned back to Cloud, the younger man had sheethed his sword and was staring back at Sephiroth.

“I had it!” Cloud repeated, this time his voice icy cool and for a moment Sephiroth fought the urge to shiver from much more than the cool evening air. “I could have taken out that monster myself.”

Sephiroth didn’t speak, just cocked his head to the side and watched as Cloud turned and stalked away. After a moment’s hesitance, Sephiroth followed after him. He didn’t speak, didn’t interrupt Cloud as the younger man picked his way across the rocky trail towards the cave where they’d set up camp. The SOLDIER Third was obviously displeased – Sephiroth could tell that even without their bond feeding emotions into him. But he also couldn’t regret what he’d done. Cloud was impulsive and lacked the proper discipline that time and age would give him. He was also precious to Sephiroth and the older man couldn’t stand waiting on the sidelines while Cloud recklessly endangered himself over and over again.

They made it back to the campsite in silence, Cloud using a materia to light the now dead fire until there was a soft glow in the cave. He stripped off his gloves and threw them to the side. Still angry, so Sephiroth took a seat at the fire pit, trying to stay out of Cloud’s way. Cloud, for his part, paced the length of the cave twice before he paused and said, “Dammit Sephiroth. We’re out here so I can get some training. How am I supposed to do that with you killing everything just because I might get hurt. You’re the one with the Cure All equipped!”

Sephiroth knew he shouldn’t say anything – even Angeal, arguably the kindest of all of his Handlers, hadn’t liked when Sephiroth back talked him during a lecture or scolding – but he couldn’t help it. “Carefully.”

Cloud paused and glared at him, a growl forming in the back of his throat. Sephiroth felt the emotions through the bond – anger and annoyance. Exasperation and frustration beneath it. Sephiroth ducked his head. “I’m sorry, Cloud. I didn’t mean –”

“Yes you did!” Cloud shot back. “I never know what you see when you look at me. Your handler or some kid you got saddled with whom you have to protect. I’m not the latter, Sephiroth.”

Sephiroth would argue that Cloud was both, but it didn’t seem prudent to bring that up at the moment. Cloud was upset enough that Sephiroth had to focus on blocking most of the emotions through their bond so he didn’t start hyperventilating. Cloud was NOT Sephiroth’s first handler; he was not going to hurt Sephiroth even though he was angry. Zack had promised him.  _Cloud_ had promised. Still, his next moves were instinctive as Sephiroth folded his legs under him, hands pressed against the stone floor of the cave as he bowed to Cloud in a deep kowtow. “I’m sorry, Cloud. I should never have disobeyed you.”

That, at least, got Cloud to stop pacing. He paused and brought his hand to his forehead, even as the emotions coming through their bond abruptly cut off. Sephiroth wanted to sigh in relief, instead he withheld the tremble that losing those emotions caused, focusing instead on making this up to Cloud however he needed to. “Shit.” Cloud muttered. “This is a handler thing, isn’t it? One of those instincts they trained into you?”

Sephiroth nodded, not trusting his ability to speak. Cloud cursed again, shifting out of his jacket and tossing it to the side before he knelt down beside Sephiroth, who didn’t move. More calmly, Cloud asked, “Does it hurt?”

A direct question required a direct answer. Sephiroth kept his face down as he said, “It… aches. It doesn’t hurt just yet.”

Sometimes when Sephiroth displeased his handlers, especially when he did it by disobeying, his bond started to break. Sephiroth knew Zack, his last handler, had explained to Cloud what the consequences of Sephiroth’s disobediance were. Pain so deep in his bones it was paralyzing, parathesia, an ache in his head that yearned for tactile contact until he was desperate for it. Sephiroth had torn his arms apart trying to get away from the sensations more than once in his life. His first handler, especially, had been particularly fond of watching Sephiroth drive himself mad just to watch the man break and beg for relief. Sephiroth hoped Cloud wasn’t going to do that to him, but it would be what he deserved. Currently, the pain was dull and distant, and the sensations prickling his skin were easy to ignore. They would not remain so for long. Sephiroth had maybe two hours before he’d be insensate from pain.

Cloud said, “What do I need to do to make it stop?” His voice was calm, and though he hadn’t reopened the link between them, Sephiroth could hazard a guess that Cloud was no longer angry with him. He didn’t want to bank on it, however, in case he was wrong, so Sephiroth kept his head bowed, forehead resting against the stone.

“Re-establish your bond with me.” Sephiroth answered. “Once you do that, the symptoms will stop.”

“Of course.” Cloud muttered under his breath. With brutal efficiency he shifted so that he was behind Sephiroth. “Keep your head down.” Cloud ordered as he reached for Sephiroth’s hand, pulling it back behind him and stripping his leather gloves off his hand. Cloud’s cool fingers brushed over the tattoo inked into Sephiroth’s left hand briefly before he reached for Sephiroth’s right hand, repeating the process. This left Sephiroth’s bracelets – designed for just such a purpose as this  – exposed. Cloud hooked the two bracelets together by the latch on each one. It wasn’t strong enough that Sephiroth couldn’t brute force his way out, but one of his trained “instincts” kept him from even tugging at the links as they rested at the small of his back.

Cloud reached for Sephiroth again, gathering his long silver hair up in a tight ponytail and using it to pull Sephiroth back up so that the taller man was kneeling up. With far more ruthless efficiency and brusque than was strictly necessary, Cloud began braiding Sephiroth’s hair into one long rope, tugging on it as Sephiroth focused on sinking further into submission. “I hate how fucked up this is.” Cloud muttered. Sephiroth hummed quizically. Cloud answered the wordless question. “I can’t even get mad at you without it somehow doing something to fuck you up.”

“I’m sorry, Cloud.” Sephiroth repeated.

Cloud growled again, deep in his throat, the act sending shivers down Sephiroth’s spin as Cloud tugged on his braid harshly. “Unless its your safeword, I don’t want to hear another word out of you.”

Sephiroth shook again, his mouth falling shut more from the compulsion of the order than instinctual obedience to his handler. Cloud tied off the braid and threw the hair over Sephiroth’s shoulder. Next he pulled Sephiroth’s jacket back off his shoulders, effectively immobilizing his arms from the elbow down. The long body of his jacket as thrown to the side, exposing the tight curve of his ass hugged by his leather pants.

“Lubricant.” Cloud muttered to himself, rising up to search for the bottle. Sephiroth silently inclined his head towards his pack where he kept a bottle just in case of emergencies such as this. Cloud didn’t hesitate to dig through Sephiroth’s things until he emerged with a bottle. He returned to his previous position, kneeling behind Sephiroth. He leaned over the other man, chest pressed against Sephiroth’s back as he reached around and unzipped Sephiroth’s pants, pulling them down his hips so they restrained his legs. Cloud grabbed the bottle from where he’d set it beside him and popped the cap, pouring a generous amount on his fingers before he plunged two fingers into Sephiroth’s ass.

Sephiroth grunted but kept his silence against the intrusive pressure, the stretch far from unbearable even as Cloud began to scissor his fingers, stretching him open with an almost clinical harshness. Sephiroth felt his heart plummet into his stomach as he realized Cloud was still mad at him. Mad enough that he wasn’t going to make this pleasurable for Sephiroth, only bearable. That, Sephiroth supposed, was more than he deserved for messing up and disobeying Cloud. He closed his eyes and breathed in through the discomfort, forcing his body to relax. Besides, Cloud’s touch – harsh and angry though it was – was working to restablish the breaking bond between them. Sephiroth hadn’t even noticed the parathesia until Cloud’s touch made the crawling sensation on his skin fade away, the numbness replaced with warmth from the fire and from Cloud’s proximity.

Cloud added a third finger and curled them inside him in a way that both increased the pressure of the his rim and also sent a jolt of pleasure through Sephiroth. Sephiroth blinked, unable to hold back his soft gasp as his cock awoke to the movement. Cloud chuckled darkly, and abruptly removed his fingers. Sephiroth heard the cap of the lubricant bottle again and when Cloud pressed up against his hole his cock was slick with it. Sephiroth breathed a soft sight of relief.

Cloud slid inside Sephiroth in one smooth movement, burying himself to the hilt as Sephiroth gasped at the penetration, the stretch of it, made uncomfortable more by his lack of true pleasure than anything Cloud had done. Cloud waited, pressed in for several long moments. “Ready?” He asked, his one capitulation to Sephiroth. Sephiroth nodded.

The pace that Cloud set was brutal and harsh, as he pulled all the way out so that just his crown was in before thrusting in with hard, long strokes. The pace wasn’t fast, but each stroke forced Sephiroth to endure it rather than draw pleasure from it. Sephiroth allowed himself to become lost in the haze of it, each pleasureless thrust driving him deeper into those damned instincts of his. The instinct to submit, the instinct to obey, the instinct to not fight back. He could easily have torn his jacket off, the links of the bracelets weren’t strong enough to stop his SOLDIER abilities, and Cloud was Third – pathetic next to the strength of ShinRa’s most powerful weapon. But the instincts stopped him. Years of training, years of conditioning. Cloud was his handler, and no matter what Sephiroth was not allowed to fight against his handler, not unless he wanted to fall into agonizing pain that would disable and eventually kill him. Eventually, not being allowed had become not wanting to, and even though Cloud was rough, it didn’t hurt near as much as the pain of the bond breaking.

It didn’t hurt as much as it could have.

So Sephiroth endured.

He felt the bond reestablish itself as Cloud came within him, ejaculate flooding Sephiroth’s ass as Cloud pulled out and sat back. Sephiroth had knelt through it all, but now the the bond was open again, he could feel Cloud’s annoyance – still present, but diminished – and his anger – directed inward, not at Sephiroth – as well as the regret. That hurt the most. Cloud regretted becoming Sephiroth’s handler, and Sephiroth didn’t blame him. The position had been forced upon Cloud by Zack with no real chance to explain what, exactly, Cloud was getting into. Sephiroth would regret getting settled into a relationship with an inhuman monster too, were he Cloud.

Sephiroth swayed suddenly, the rocky group rushing up to meet him as a sudden wave of dizziness overcame him. “Sephiroth?!” Cloud caught him before he hit the floor, lowering him to the ground gently. “What’s wrong?” Cloud demanded, but his voice sounded like it was coming from far away. Sephiroth knew he was slipping. This sometimes happened, more often with some handlers than with others, where Sephiroth couldn’t stay awake after punishment, his body acclimating to the flood of pheremones Cloud had released that established his dominance over Sephiroth. “Answer me!” Cloud demanded again, but Sephiroth’s eyes slipped closed instead. He couldn’t speak, all he could do was dream.

*~*~*

_“Please… sir, please.” The pain was unbearable. it was in his head, in his bones, in his very skin and even trying to scratch and claw his skin off didn’t stop the pain. Blood dripped down his arms where he’d dug furrows in them, pooling in the dirt at his knees where he knelt before his handler._

_Above him, his handler was cool and calm even as Sephiroth shivered longing for a touch – for anything that would ease his pain. But his handler, First Class Marcus Hunter, merely regarded Sephiroth with cold fury. “Tell me why you think you deserve forgiveness for disobeying me.”_

_“I don’t.” Sephiroth replied. “It hurts. Please, I’m sorry. I know I don’t deserve it –”_

_Marcus backhanded him, leather gloves still on, and Sephiroth fell to the side with the force of the blow, catching himself on his hands. He felt the blood drip down his face from the corner of his mouth but stayed in his half fallen position. “You’re right, you don’t deserve it. So I’m going to make you work for it. Strip and tie your hair back.”_

_Sephiroth knelt up slowly, and began the process of removing his third class uniform, shivering as the fabric brushed against skin sensitized by the parathesia. Boots, cargo pants, jacket and turtleneck. He saved his gloves for last, slipping off his last defensive layer reluctantly to reveal not just his specimen number tattooed on his hand but also his bracelets, the hated manacles that were used to awaken his instinct toward submission and cooperation. It reminded him too much of being strapped down to operating tables while Hojo stood over him, injecting his body with who knew what. Beneath the bracelet was Sephiroth’s hair tie, which he used to fasten his hair back in a low tail at the base of his neck quickly and efficiently._

_He knelt again at Marcus’s feet, his left hand gripping his right wrist behind his back as he forced himself not to shake, head bowed down towards the ground. Blood from his arms and face dripped into the dirt Marcus just grinned above him. “Stupid slut. You need correcting before you’re forgiven. You need to remember where your place is.” He stepped closer to Sephiroth, placing one steel toed boot in front of Sephiroth’s face. “Kiss it.”_

_Sephiroth bowed down to do as ordered, praying to be rewarded with something, anything, for his obedience. The pain was agonizing, he felt like he was being eaten inside out from it and as he pressed his lips against the mud and dust covered boot, Sephiroth knew what cost his desperation would have._

_“Clean it, slut. If you want my touch so bad, then show me what you’ll do to earn it.” Marcus ordered._

_Sephiroth ignored his stomach’s instinctive reaction to rebel against the taste of the dirt, gritty and harsh in his mouth as he licked the boot, his hands never leaving the small of his back. He didn’t stop until Marcus forced him to, the toe of the boot nudging his chin upward so that Sephiroth was able to see the man through the fringes of his bangs. “What do you say?” Marcus prompted._

_Sephiroth swallowed past his own dry mouth and managed. “Thank you sir, for teaching me obedience.”_ _Marcus dropped his foot and Sephiroth bowed his head once more. The pain was in the fire down his spin, the aching cold in his bones and stomach, it was in the sesation of crawling and prickling all over his skin. “Please.” Sephiroth begged, “Please sir, forgive me.”_

_For a moment, Sephiroth’s handler seemed to consider the request. “Not yet.” He decided, as if it had been a hard conclusion to reach. “You still haven’t earned it, little monster.”_

*~*~*

When Sephiroth came to he was lying on his bedroll. His hands were unchained, jacket drapped over him. Sometime in his sleep Cloud had removed his boots and pants, but left his harness on. He’d also cleaned the lube and come from Sephiroth’s thighs. Now, Cloud was sleeping beside Sephiroth, head on the older man’s chest, his own clothing discarded as he cuddled closer to Sephiroth. The fire was dying embers beside them. Cloud must have felt Sephiroth wake because he blinked wide blue eyes up at him, a gentle smile on his face.

“Hey.” He greeted.

Sephiroth didn’t respond, remembering the earlier order not to speak hadn’t yet been rescinded. Cloud frowned as he realized that to. “It’s over.” He said. “You can speak.” With a yawn he rolled away from Sephiroth and sat up. “You scared me, you know. You were running a fever so I thought the malboro had gotten you and I didn’t notice. I caste esuna on you but it didn’t seem to help so I called Zack.”

Sephiroth winced at the mention of his former handler. “I’m sorry for being a burden.”

“Hey, no.” Cloud soothed. Through the bond, Sephiroth felt his fear and concern. It was touching really, and far more than Sephiroth deserved. “This is my fault. Zack already yelled at me. Said it was my fault you passed out like this. He said it only happened a couple of times to him but that it was a sign he’d really fucked up with you. I’m so sorry. I was angry and I took it out on you even though – no, because I knew – you couldn’t fight back.”

Sephiroth shook his head, but so fresh out of the nightmare –  _stupid slut_  – he didn’t think he could accept Cloud’s words, his apology right now. Sephiroth didn’t deserve it. Marcus had been right – Sephiroth was nothing but a monster, a worthless fuck up who couldn’t even do as ordered. He deserved to suffer, but Cloud hadn’t hurt him, not really. He’d been harsh, yes, perhaps reveling in Sephiroth’s helplessness in a way Angeal never had, but he was still not a bad handler. It could have been – it had been – worse, all told.

Sephiroth knew Cloud could feel his uncertainty. The bond went both ways, making it difficult for Sephiroth to hide his thoughts and emotions from his handler. Cloud scooted across the distance between them and wrapped his arm around the older man’s waist, one hand reaching up to pull Sephiroth’s head down to Cloud’s shoulder. Sephiroth let Cloud manhandle him into position, not fighting against the comfort of skin to skin contact. “Hey.” Cloud said softly. “I don’t ever want a repeat of what happened tonight. I know I have to punish you to satisfy that  _stupid_  instinct and reestablish the bond, but I don’t want it to be so bad that you pass out on me again. Next time, please use your safeword. I don’t want to hurt you, even when I’m angry at you.”

Sephiroth nodded against Cloud’s shoulder. “I will do better, Cloud. I promise.”

If only because Cloud was the whole of Sephiroth’s world. If only because Sephiroth had spent so long in limbo after Angeal vanished and left Sephiroth to Zack who had tried so hard – so much harder than Sephiroth deserved – to be a good handler. Cloud was trying too, even if he was young and impulsive and messed up sometimes. For that, Sephiroth could try harder, do better, and hopefully, one day, Cloud would want Sephiroth as much as Sephiroth wanted him.

Someday.

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked this, consider leaving kudos or a comment. Every author wants them, and I'm no exception.
> 
> Want more? Check out the series page for a link to my writing tumblr.


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